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Standard disclaimer applies. A tiny spoiler for 'Frame Up'. Not mine, please don't sue. See the very first chapter for some explanations and references.

Chapter 3

Several days earlier

"Hey, that's a new one. I need to add it to my collection."

In the hindsight, Tony should have expected the head slap – Abby tended to take any hint of a threat to her friends extremely seriously, and she had long ago proclaimed him to be her Very Special Bestest Not-So-Female Friend. He even had a diploma sealed with a scull-and-crossbones sticker somewhere among his papers. Rubbing the back of his head absently, he tried a different approach, now steering clear of irate Abby,

"Mmmm, it seems I have a secret admirer?"

This attempt also failed to calm Abby down.

"Anthony Dominic Gibbs-DiNozzo! How can you…!" At this point Abby sputtered, seemingly unable to comprehend the depth of dim-wittedness required to disregard a message of this sort. She even stomped on his foot to drive the idea home to him.

"Hey, that hurt!" Tony shouted offendedly. Not that her attack really hurt him – Abby would never do that – but it was kind of annoying that everyone was always trying to prove a point to him by applying some sort of physical punishment: Gibbs with the head slaps, Pop with spanking, Abby always punched him or stomped on his feet, Kate, God rest her soul, would elbow him in the ribs all the time, and now Ziva took over that responsibility, even Duck had slapped his hands a few times when he was trying to steal those awesome gingerbread cookies, so what that he was prohibited to have any before lunch, why would the ME be so obsessed with his eating habits anyway?... Next thing McGee will actually grow a pair and try to retaliate for calling him 'Probie', and they all could safely watch for signs of the Four Horsemen at the horizon.

Sure enough, Abby was unable to withstand the Pout of Doom™ and pulled Tony in a quick hug. Then she smacked him lightly on the head again but chased it by a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"I just worry, Tony-bear. You need to be more careful."

"Well, you shouldn't. After all, I'm a highly trained federal agent," he retorted, still pouting.

"Gibbs worries, too," she offered him what she thought to be an irrefutable argument.

"Well, he shouldn't," Tony still refused to be reasoned with.

"And Antonio worries, and Ducky, and Ziva, and McGee, and even Palmer, and Mrs. Korinski from apartment 4B, and…" Abby rattled off in one breath. "And Sister Theresa, and Ernie Yost, and…"

Tony put a finger on her lips to prevent her from blurting out any more names. Abby bit it playfully but got his point and took a deep breath. Then she continued less agitatedly, but no less seriously,

"Tony, the thing is you don't take care of yourself. You don't eat right or sleep enough, unless someone reminds you to. You go to chase leads half-cocked. Granted, Gibbs has almost broken you out of this habit, but still… You mouth off the perps while they are still in position to hurt you. You, you..." She sniffed furiously and went silent.

"Hey, Abbs, don't get upset. Please? Pretty please, cherry on the top?" Tony wheedled; he hated seeing her upset and be the reason for it. "I really don't mean to, it just happens."

"That's my point!" Abby went back from upset to pissed off. Before she was able to continue, Tony told her in a quiet somber voice,

"The thing is, ever since Uncle Vincent went to jail, I've felt like I have no one to be scared of. Like I'm free and unstoppable, and I want to run around like a headless chicken and do stupid-ass things…"

Abby tried to put a word in, but Tony kept on as if she wasn't there anymore,

"Did you know he was knifed in prison? Sixteen stab wounds, eleven of them in the abdominal and groin area. It seems some biker dude wanted to make him his bitch and refused to take no for an answer. Speak about what goes around, comes around."

"Was it when you took a few days off a couple of months back?" Abby inquired quietly. She remembered it well – Tony looked so out of it that she considered calling her friend the voodoo priestess to consult about curses and zombie magic. Then Gibbs made him take a four-day weekend, took some time off himself, and Tony returned to work as his former adorable and at times infuriating self.

"Yeah. Pop and dad took me camping. I really needed it, needed to get rid of distractions to put this… mess… in perspective," Tony admitted softly. He still had trouble expressing how he felt about his troubled childhood spent with an abusive uncle. He, however, realized that he needed to let it all out, he knew as much even without the words of wisdom from the expensive shrink his Pop made him visit. "He… I mean Vincent… would always say I was worthless, only good for a fuck and nothing else, that I would never achieve anything, end up in the gutter, well you get the meaning… At the time I thought he was my real father, so I hung on every word like it was Holy Gospel..."

At this point Abby attempted to interrupt him, to reassure and defend, but Tony gently silenced her again and continued,

"Then I broke free from him. Went to college, joined the police force. Made something of myself. But even then, when something went wrong, I would hear his voice in the back of my mind. When I broke my leg and couldn't play football anymore, or when in Philly a jumper took my partner with him, or when I got that stupid plague... I'd hear, 'You're nothing, boy. Quit trying to fool everyone and go back to me. At least here you will be what you really are – a good lay.' Then Kate died, and things just kept piling one on the top of the other. If not for Gibbs, I…" He went silent, staring into nothingness.

Abby knew better than to pry for more; Tony just didn't work like that – if he felt threatened or coerced to disclose something he wasn't ready to share, he would simply clam up, and the topic would be put on the back burner for a good long while. Abby's tactic was to support and outwait him. As usual, it worked, even though Tony took his sweet time to speak again.

"Then Gibbs took me in and made me feel like I'm worth something again. And Pop returned. And they both love me and believe in me. So nothing bad can happen to me. Ever!" he concluded rather forcefully, in the end punching the armrest of the soft leather couch they had drifted to at some point.

Abby stared at him incredulously, "Are you seriously telling me that you are going to disregard a threat because you feel like the king of the world?"

"Well, not completely. I mean, that'd be just stupid, after all I've made my fair share of enemies," Tony retorted, a bit embarrassed. "It's just… Remember that asswipe Chip?"

"How can I forget! I nearly sent you to jail!" Abby was completely mortified – after all, on that particular occasion it was her fault that Tony got in trouble – and proceeded to fiercely hug her friend.

"That's not what I mean!" Tony squeezed out; a full-on Abby-hug was a force to be reckoned with. "I wanted to say that dad went through my entire list of prospective ill-wishers and went and made it clear to each and every one of them what he'd do if they as much as thought of messing with me."

"Go Gibbs!" Abby crowed happily. She just knew Gibbs wouldn't let her down; he took the task of keeping their Tony-boy safe and sound seriously.

"Abbs, you have no idea how embarrassing it was to have your dad visit your former girlfriends and threaten them with God knows what! Pam Kim even sent me flowers and a letter of apology on three pages!" Abby only laughed at Tony's outraged whine. "Besides, he and Pop took it upon themselves to keep the list of my professional enemies up to date, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe on that front, too."

Seeing that Abby was already half-convinced, Tony pressed on, "Abby, please. You of all people know everything about hate mail. It's probably from some misguided woman. She'll egg my door or call me while drunk a few times, and that'll be the end of it."

"OK, OK," Abby relented. Then, suddenly somber, she took Tony's face in her palms and told, looking directly in his eyes, "Promise you'll be careful, Anthony."

"I promise, Abigail," he returned equally seriously.

And they proceeded to cuddle on the couch, the letter forgotten on the floor.

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A.N.: Here's another chapter. Sorry, it's a litte shoter that the previous ones, but I thought this was a logical place to finish. The next chapter won't be coming for at least two weeks - my long-awaited vacation is coming up, and I'm heading southwards. I hope lots of reviews will wait for me when I'm back *hints*)))